


i believe in you

by towokuwusatsuwu



Series: Femslash February 2018: Tokusatsu Edition [10]
Category: Kamen Rider Drive
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Possibly Unrequited Love, Pre-Femslash, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 14:13:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13637910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/towokuwusatsuwu/pseuds/towokuwusatsuwu
Summary: Kiriko has a crush on her roommate. It's as simple and as complicated as that.





	i believe in you

There are wadded-up pieces of paper trailing through the living room to the kitchen, which is Kiriko’s first sign that Rinna decided to pull another all-nighter despite what it does to her to do that. She hides a small smile behind her hand as she follows the trail, picking the papers as she goes, smoothing them out only to find she doesn’t quite understand the equations in front of her face, the complex math that Rinna rolls out for her research like it’s nothing. None of it makes sense to Kiriko but she likes seeing it just the same, the results of Rinna’s hard work.

There are more papers inside of the kitchen doorway, a small mountain because the trashcan is overflowing with them and Kiriko shakes her head, leaning against the frame as her eyes fall on the kitchen table. Rinna is asleep, her head pillowed on her arms, her hair tied back in a messy ponytail and a selection of books spread out open in front of her.

Kiriko picks up the coffee cup beside her elbow and takes it to the sink, setting it down quietly so as not to wake her roommate while she goes about brewing a fresh pot before work. They have a new transfer today, so Kiriko will have her hands full making sure the transition is a smooth one. She can only imagine what kind of trouble they can run into, especially with the string of missing persons lately. But she has faith in her unit and herself.

While the coffee brews, she turns around and leans against the counter, watching Rinna’s back rise and fall in a slow, smooth motion that echoes her breathing. She had been working hard on her thesis paper over the last few weeks and though Kiriko had been able to sense she was close to a breakthrough, she still worries when Rinna tells her she’s going to have another late night session to work on it. Unlike most people Kiriko knows, and Kiriko herself when she was still in school, Rinna works in brilliant and rapid bursts that get closer together the closer she is to her deadline until she pulls through at the last minute with top marks.

She falls asleep at the kitchen table all the time, and if not there then on the couch, her laptop threatening to slip off of her lap onto the floor but never quite making it there. Kiriko had saved it the last time, saving her paper carefully before closing the lid and setting it on the coffee table where she would be able to find it when she needed it. By the time Kiriko finished her shower, Rinna had been back to work with hardly any indication she had ever been asleep.

The two of them had been living together for the past two years. Kiriko had wanted a roommate and Rinna needed somewhere to stay; together they make more than enough to pay their bills and live comfortably. The only difficulty had been that as time passed and as she got to know Rinna better and better, Kiriko had started to realize that her feelings of friendship toward the other woman had begun to change against her will.

Rinna awakes with a start and a loud snorting sound, her eyes wild behind her glasses as she sits bolt upright in her chair. “That’s it, that’s what I need,” she says, and sets her hands on her keyboard, typing like a mad person for a few minutes without even indicating she knows Kiriko is in the room, though maybe she doesn’t. When she gets wrapped up in her work, the rest of the world tends to go away and she only becomes aware of it when she’s finished.

“Good morning, Rinna,” Kiriko says, pouring her a fresh cup of coffee and setting it in the place of her old one before retrieving a mug for herself. “It looks like you were up late working. I hope you didn’t hurt your back laying on the table like that. It’s not good for you.”

“Good morning, Kiriko. I’ll have you know my back is just fine and if there was any soreness, it wouldn’t be any that a good shower wouldn’t be able to sort through.” Rinna pauses her typing long enough to take a sip of her coffee, strong and black and caffeinated just like she always takes it, before going back to her typing. “You have that new transfer today, right?”

The question catches Kiriko off-guard, as does everything else that Rinna says; her lips quirk into a smile and she shakes her head, scratching the side of her nose with a finger before she takes a sip of her coffee. Today is a rare morning where Rinna actually talks to her while she’s working, and usually Kiriko is careful enough not to bother her because she knows how much this degree means to Rinna. She had poured hours of work into it, so Kiriko tries to steer clear of her when it’s clear she needs to focus. But leaving without saying anything to her roommate and best friend feels weird and wrong, so she has to settle for a happy medium. Had she even told Rinna about the transfer? She doesn’t think she did, doesn’t remember it.

“Tomari Shinnosuke,” Kiriko says. “He arrives today. I’m a little nervous about it.”

“You shouldn’t be. You’ll be able to get him acclimated to the team just fine, you’ve always been good at things like that or at least that’s what I’ve heard your chief say. I have faith in you.” Rinna slaps a button on her keyboard hard before turning around in her chair, crossing one leg over the other and taking her coffee mug in both hands; the curls of white rising off of the liquid steam up her glasses slightly. “I heard you talking about him on the phone. You really don’t have to worry. You're good at your job and always have been from what I understand.”

“I know. I just worry about these things. I want to make a good first impression on him and I want him to stay, and that means I have to put in extra work to make sure he understands his new duties and feels welcome with the rest of us.” It sounds easy, but it can be difficult.

Rinna nods slowly, looking like she’s considering this as she drinks her coffee. “Well, from our interactions I’ve always thought you were well-suited to being a people person and your job means a lot to you, so I’m sure it’ll be okay. Just do what feels natural for you to do.”

Kiriko looks up at the clock as she finishes her coffee, gauging how much time she has left to finish getting ready before she has to head out. The road she takes to work is usually not heavy in traffic, so she has plenty of time, but she wants to be early today so she can set a good impression for her new kouhai. She combs her fingers through her hair, then stops; she doesn’t want to look too nervous. This is her  _ job, _ and like Rinna said, she can do this.

“How much longer are you going to be working on your paper before it’s done? You’ve been working so hard lately that you must be close to finishing it.” Kiriko couldn’t tell from any of the notes she picked up or the pile of trash on the kitchen floor or overflowing from the trash can. As if reading her mind, Rinna finally notices the mess. “If you wouldn’t mind getting that before I get home, that would be nice. I understand if you’re too busy, though, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s fine. I hadn’t even realized I was making this much of a mess.” Rinna stands and dusts herself off before retrieving the trash bag from the can, pushing her papers down into it as she kneels to pick up the rest of them with an irritated sigh. “I can get wrapped up in it. But it should be done by the end of the week, which will give me plenty of time to edit it and turn it in on time. You must be a good influence on me because I’ve been getting my work done more efficiently.”

Kiriko opens her mouth to say something but no words come out; her face flushes at the thought and she shakes her head, tugging her skirt into place as she finishes her coffee before looking herself over once more. Uniform in place, showered, teeth brushed, coffee inhaled to get her going before her body finishes waking up. She had never thought Rinna was picking up anything from her, at least not that she noticed, and she… She had been watching Rinna somewhat closely, especially lately. Rinna had been smiling more, certainly, but—

“Well, I need to be off this morning. I don’t know how late I’m going to be, but if I do I’ll text you to let you know.” It had been their system so that the other never worried, that they were always on the same page, that neither of them ended up buying too much takeout or waited too late to eat. “I hope it’ll go okay, but if you say that it will, I’ll trust you to know that. Please take a nap today if you have the time, too. I don’t want you to exhaust yourself too much.”

“Wait.” Rinna pushes herself up and crosses the room in quick strides, her hands lighting on the tie around Kiriko’s throat. “This is crooked, let me fix it for you. I know it’s important to you that you look your very best today, after all.”

A hot flush crawls up Kiriko’s cheeks as she stands perfectly still, her nose picking up the coffee on Rinna’s breath, on her natural scent of cheap shampoo and eraser shavings and ink. She tries not to focus too hard, but it’s hard to think straight when Rinna’s fingers keep brushing against the skin of her throat, when Rinna furrows her brows like she does when she’s working and intent on her work. It’s cute, in a way, not that Kiriko would ever feel comfortable saying that.

“There you go.” Rinna beams at her, smoothing the tie into place. “Make lots of money, husband.”

The remark had been a joke between the two of them every morning when Rinna saw Kiriko off to work; she’d call it from the kitchen or the bathroom or the couch if she couldn’t get up and hug Kiriko goodbye. But this morning, it makes Kiriko laughs, a small and startled sound. If she looks like she feels then she can’t imagine looking like anything but a fool right now.

“Seriously.” Rinna hugs her, tight and warm. “You can do it. I believe in you.”

This is cruel torture, really, Kiriko thinks as she hugs Rinna back, her hands sliding over the soft fabric of Rinna’s lab coat, and really, she hadn’t changed out of it before coming home? Or changed out of it when she came home? She had gone straight to work without a second thought and Kiriko can’t help but admire that level of drive even though it worries her sometimes that Rinna will overwork herself. Kiriko will just have to keep looking after her.

“Thank you,” she finally says. “I’ll see you later tonight. I hope your paper goes well.”

They part at the front door where Rinna locks up and Kiriko heads out to her car, her heart hammering against her ribs desperately hard. She wants to shake her head at herself, maybe laugh, maybe cry. Her crush on Rinna has been something she struggles with lately, not wanting to make their living situation awkward for her but also wanting to let her know just the same because it’s hard to hold it all inside, on her shoulders when it’s so heavy.

She has a job today, though. She has a transfer to deal with, a case to work, and plenty of paperwork to file and sort through today. Everything has to be done correctly and perfectly to make sure the court trials that inevitably come go well; there can be no mistakes that criminals can exploit for their own gain. Kiriko will never stand for such a thing.

As she slips behind the steering wheel of her car, though, she makes a deal with herself; if things go fine today, and if she doesn’t spend a horribly late night at work again… Maybe she can tell Rinna in the morning, on her day off, when the two of them will likely lounge around the apartment together. Maybe Rinna will even feel the same. Kiriko certainly won’t rule it out.

Her goal firmly in mind, Kiriko gives herself a quick nod in the rearview mirror before taking off for the station. She can do this. Rinna believes in her, after all.


End file.
